So far, so good: Opening-night party on the lakefront draws strong reviews

the city appeared to impress a lot of people at Rock the Night in Cleveland, the welcoming party thrown by the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee and its supporters on the lakefront on Sunday night, July 17.

It’s too early for a final tally, but the city appeared to impress a lot of people at Rock the Night in Cleveland, the welcoming party thrown by the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee and its supporters on the lakefront Sunday night, July 17.

A Washington state delegate told a Clevelander behind him in line for a smoked lake perch slider at the stand operated by the Urban Farmer restaurant that, “I didn’t expect to see that skyline, I was really impressed.

Dustin Klein, publisher of the Smart Business publications, said an editor of Congressional Quarterly, a Washington news operation, and a convention veteran, told him that “he’d never seen a city more prepared for a convention than Cleveland.”

Of course, the convention-opening party is only the prelude to a week politics, partying and protests.

But it was an opportunity for the city and its hospitality industry to make an impression.

That was important to Britt-Marie Culey. She and her husband, Shane, own Coquette Patisserie, a wholesale catering bakery that opened a café in the Uptown neighborhood in 2013. She sees the event as a first step beyond the Cleveland market.

“We do so many events around town, but it’s all local,” she said. “This is national.”

Culey said the convention opening party is the only event Coquette Patisserie is doing under its own name this week. “Otherwise we’re working with caterers in town,” she said. “We’ve been swamped for the last few days and then more deliveries later in the week.”

The host committee invited 12,000 people to the event. Most were delegates, alternate delegates and their companions — 2,472 delegates and similar number of alternates. A number of Clevelanders got invitations as well — host committee members, executives of sponsors and a number of other political and civic leaders. There were even a few Democrats spotted in the crowd, including Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and Cleveland city council members Brian Cummins and Zack Reed.

The headliner of the event was the rock group Three Dog Night, which performed on a stage in front of the lawn at Voinovich Park, at the end of the East Ninth Street pier. The band drew a crowd at tables and on the lawn, but partygoers roamed the grounds, which were lined with food trucks and beverage stands. While there were lines at some of the food trucks, the visitors never lacked for a place to sit and visit.

Many couldn’t resist having their pictures taken, often with the Cleveland skyline sparkling in the setting sun in the background.